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Pols vow action on gov's immigrant tuition discount

By Chris Camire, ccamire@lowellsun.com

Updated:
11/20/2012 07:36:52 AM EST

BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick's decision to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrants was met with stiff resistance from lawmakers Monday, with several vowing to seek to end the benefit as soon as possible.

House Republican leader Bradley Jones, an opponent of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, criticized Patrick for implementing the program without legislative approval.

"Instead of engaging elected officials from both political parties in constructive conversation and debate, he has put his interests both politically and personally, above those of Massachusetts' residents," Jones said in a statement.

In a letter sent Monday to the Board of Higher Education, Patrick said immigrants who obtain a work permit through a new federal program instituted by President Barack Obama would be eligible to pay the lower rates. Those rates cut in half the annual tuition to attend the University of Massachusetts.

While some legislators expressed concern that extending in-state tuition to illegal immigrants will take enrollment openings away from students who are in the country legally, two college presidents said they do not expect this to be a problem.

"The public university is set up to handle all students. I don't see that as an issue," said Robert Antonucci, president of Fitchburg State University. "We have room in our public universities."

Still, Antonucci said it remains unclear how many students will seek to take advantage of the subsidized tuition rates in the wake of Patrick's order.

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He said the move could benefit a "large" Latino population in Fitchburg and a "growing" Latino population in Leominster.

"This would provide opportunity for those folks," Antonucci said. "I don't know how much we would grow. Maybe 200 students, but I really don't know."

Daniel Asquino, president of Mount Wachusett Community College, said not allowing illegal immigrants who have been educated in the state's public-school system to pay in-state tuition rates poses "a huge obstacle" to their prospects of getting a good job.

"These individuals will now have access to higher education," he said. "Many of them will reside in our communities and own businesses."

At UMass Lowell, spokeswoman Christine Gillette said it is unclear what impact this new policy will have on the campus.

"We do not know how many people who are undocumented immigrants will decide to attend UMass Lowell under the new plan," Gillette wrote in an email.

Obama in June launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, granting immigrants 30 and younger two-year reprieves from deportation if they arrived before age 16, had a clean record and met other requirements. The president left it up to individual states to decide whether immigrants should get benefits such as resident tuition.

"It's a step in the right direction but it's not a substitute for comprehensive immigration reform, we still need that," Patrick told reporters on Monday, adding that his directive would impact a "relatively small number" of students.

At UMass Lowell, it costs $24,896 this year for nonresidents, compared with $11,847 for in-state residents. Middlesex Community College costs $176 per credit this year for in-state residents, compared with $382 per credit for nonresidents.

At Fitchburg State University it costs $14,790 this year for nonresidents, compared with $8,710 for in-state residents. Mount Wachusett Community College costs $190 per credit this year for in-state residents, compared with $395 per credit for nonresidents.

Granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants has generated little legislative support in recent years, with the House soundly rejecting it in a 97-57 vote in 2006. Current House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who opposed the bill at the time, did not respond to a request for comment through a spokesman.

State Rep. Kevin Murphy, D-Lowell, anticipates the Legislature will take up the issue again in the wake of Patrick's directive.

"In order to be entitled to benefits in the United States, I think you should be here legally," said Murphy. "What's amazing to me is how many immigrants I've talked to who believe the same thing. They say everybody should to do it the way they did it. Legally."

State Rep. Jim Miceli, D-Wilmington, also expects legislative action.

"I don't know what it is yet, but there's enough opposition to this decision that I think we're going to be stepping up to the plate on this," he said.

Last year, Patrick made an unexpected appearance before the Education Committee in favor of a bill that would extend in-state tuition rates to any public college or university in Massachusetts, with the exception of the UMass Medical School and the UMass School of Law, to anyone who has attended high school in Massachusetts for at least three years and has earned a diploma or GED.

By refusing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, Patrick said the state is "enabling a permanent underclass" and robbing students of opportunity. Although Patrick had long supported in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, many saw his surprise testimony as a sign he would be taking a bolder approach on the issue in his second term.

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